Indian national, 3 others arrested over N3.9bn worth of illegal drugs at Lagos airport

Monday, September 15, 2025 - A man arrested with leaves suspected to be Indian hemp in Kano at the weekend

An Indian businessman, Gupta Ravi Kumar, and three Nigerian accomplices—Ogunlana Noah Olanrewaju, Olushola Idrees Kayode, and Bakare Korede Muheeb—have been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in connection with the seizure of 2,248,000 pills of tramadol 200mg/225mg intercepted at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.

The tramadol shipment, with a street value of N3,990,000,000), was imported from Delhi, India.

It arrived at the import shed of the Lagos airport on an Ethiopian Airline flight on Monday, September 8, 2025, disguised as multi-vitamins in 114 cartons, the Agency said.

A statement by Femi Babafemi, the Agency’s spokesperson in Abuja on Sunday, saidteam of NDLEA officers who had placed the consignment under surveillance swooped on a clearing agent and two drivers who were trying to move the shipment out of the airport in two trucks on Thursday, September 11.

According to the statement, a follow-up operation the next day, Friday, led to the arrest of the Indian businessman, Gupta Ravi Kumar, as he was attempting to take delivery of the consignment.

He added that at the Terminal 2 departure gate of the airport, NDLEA operatives on Sunday, September 7, intercepted a passenger, Onyeganochi Stanley Ifeanyi, who was traveling on a Qatar Airline flight to Doha.

A search of his bag led to the recovery of 900 grams of skunk, a strain of cannabis, concealed in crayfish.

As a first-time traveler, Onyeganochi claimed the bag was given to him to help take to Doha by a Qatar-based Nigerian, Ohadiegwu Anthony Uchenna, who actually followed him to the airport.

His confession led to the arrest of Uchenna, who was still within view. Operatives who later conducted a search of Uchenna’s hotel room in Ajao Estate discovered an additional 200 grams of the same psychoactive substance.

He claimed he was to return to Doha days later and pick up the bag from the unsuspecting Onyeganochi if he had succeeded in escaping security checks.

In Abuja, NDLEA operatives on a stop-and-search operation at the Utako area of the FCT on Thursday, September 11, arrested a dispatch rider, Godsplan Vincent (29), while he was on a mission to distribute 50.7 grams of cocaine and 66 grams of Loud.